ACougarsDesire (2 page)

For the first time in his life Jase found himself
dumbfounded by a woman. Katarina was beautiful, but from what she’d said, he
had a feeling she didn’t have too many good experiences with men or dating.

He shook his head. “No, that wasn’t the reason I asked you
out.” She arched a brow to say she didn’t believe him. “Okay, it wasn’t the
only
reason. I’ll admit I’m very attracted to you, even though you threatened to
bash my brains in with that bat.”

Katarina gave a very unladylike snort, then motioned him to
follow her as she turned away. They walked across the hall and into her
apartment. Jase was pleased to see her prop the bat in the corner next to the
entranceway.

“About the door,” she said as she came to stand in front of
him. “I have to call someone in to fix it so I won’t know how much it’ll cost
until later. Give me your phone number and I’ll let you know once the job is
done.”

“I can do that. And if Caleb comes back, I’d like it if you
could let me know. You never gave me an answer about a date.”

“I thought I gave you one.”

“No, you didn’t. Not really.”

Katarina rolled her eyes. “I’ll spell it out for you. I’m
not interested in a one-night stand or anything casual. And to be brutally
honest, good-looking guys like you tend to have a wandering eye. I don’t put up
with that crap. So if any of those things apply to you, I’m not interested.”

Wow, she was a tough nut to crack. She was going to make him
work for it, and Jase was more than willing. She was the complete opposite of the
females of his kind, who lived for the day when they set off the magic in a
male’s pendant. And it really turned him on.

Jase took a step closer and gave Katarina the sexiest grin
he could. “Why don’t you say yes and see for yourself that they don’t apply to
me. Plus, I like the fact you think I’m good-looking. I’ll take you wherever
you want to go. You can plan the whole date.”

“If I say yes, I’ll drive myself. I want to be able to leave
when I feel it isn’t going to work out, which will more than likely happen.”

“I have no problem with that.” Talk about a vote of
confidence.

“Fine,” Katarina said as if it pained her. “I’ll go out with
you tomorrow evening. And you can pay me for the door then. I should be able to
get someone in today since it’ll be an emergency call.”

Jase gave Katarina his cell phone number, then left after he
had her promise to call him tomorrow during the day to let him know where and
when to meet her that evening. As he left the apartment building, he figured he
hadn’t completely wasted his time. Caleb may have given him the slip, but Jase
had a date with a human woman who would more than likely keep him on his toes.

* * * * *

Katarina turned the locks on her door after she closed it
behind Jase. She looked out the peephole until he’d walked out of range. She
turned and headed into her living room. After sitting on the couch, she placed
the piece of paper she’d written Jase’s number on the coffee table. She picked
up her cell then made the call to the guy who did the handyman-type work around
the building.

Once she hung up, she found her gaze drawn to the paper.
Katarina couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go out on a date with Jase. She’d
kind of given up on finding Mr. Right about a year ago. Usually she seemed to
attract the losers. She was a veritable magnet for bad boys, self-centered
assholes and men who were only after one thing. At twenty-seven, she was
already jaded when it came to the opposite sex. In a lot of ways, she felt as
if she’d be better off staying single.

An image of Jase rose inside her mind. He was a hunk, there
was no question about that. All that remained to be seen was whether or not he
ended up being as bad as the rest of the men she’d gone out with. The very
small part of her that still held on to the hope of finding the one man who
would be perfect for her prayed he’d be different.

Katarina sat back and smiled. At least she’d get to see how
he passed her first test, which would be what they did on their date tomorrow
evening. She’d come up with something he’d either be able to handle, or would
send him running.

After he returned to his car, Jase tried the computer
program once more to see if Caleb had used his cell while Jase had been with
Katarina. To his disappointment, his prey hadn’t. With nothing left to do, he
started his vehicle and drove to Blaise’s place. His cousin would be expecting
to hear how Jase’s meeting with Draven had gone.

A mental picture of Katarina—threatening him with her
bat—made Jase chuckle. For her lack of stature, she came across as one tough
woman. He figured her being the superintendent of the apartment building, and
given the area she lived, she would have to be.

At his cousin’s family’s house, Jase parked in front of the
four-car garage before he knocked once on the front door, then let himself in.
He called Blaise’s name, who answered from the living room.

Jase walked into that room to find his Aunt Mara, Uncle
Nate, Blaise, his mate Harley, his other cousin Taylor and his mate Aspen
there. He looked at his uncle. It’d only been a few days since Harley, who was
a lab technician, had found the poisons in Nate’s blood work, but the leader of
their family group had greatly improved. No longer did he have the debilitating
symptoms of his “illness”. He was still a bit weak and too thin, but that
wouldn’t last long. Being a cougar shifter would make his recovery swift. They
healed a lot faster than a human. And if Nate had been one, he would have died
from the poisons long ago.

Blaise greeted him first. “Hey, Jase. How did things go with
Draven?”

Jase crossed the room, then sat in the empty armchair.
“Good. He gave me a program that tracks Caleb each time he uses his cell phone.
It isn’t up to the minute, but it’s close enough.”

“Did you find him?” his uncle asked.

He shook his head. “I came close, though. I did find where
he was hiding. He rented an apartment in a low-income building in a not so
great part of Anchorage. He must have heard me talking to the superintendent,
who lives across the hall. I ended up kicking in his door, but he’d jumped out
the window and gotten away. So far he hasn’t used his cell phone again.”

“You’ll catch him eventually,” Nate said. “He obviously is
staying in the city for some reason. I would have thought he would be long gone
by now.”

To be honest, so had Jase. He’d been all prepared to catch a
plane to wherever Caleb ended up. So far his prey had done two dumb
things—using a traceable cell phone and staying in Anchorage where he would be
hunted the most.

“I guess Caleb won’t be returning there any time soon,”
Taylor said.

“He could. I didn’t get a chance to look through the
apartment since the super was with me and not pleased that I’d kicked in the
door, but it appeared as if Caleb left a lot of things behind.”

“He might just walk away from it all,” Blaise added. “We now
know where he’s been staying.”

“I’ve asked Katarina to let me know if Caleb returns before
I can track him with the program.”

“Katarina?” his aunt asked.

“She’s the superintendent of the building.” Jase decided to
get everything out in the open in case things did work out between him and
Katarina. “And before you can ask, because I know you will, I’m taking her out
on a date tomorrow evening.”

“I take it she’s human,” his uncle said.

“Yes.” Jase looked Nate straight in the eyes when he said
it, almost daring him to say something negative, but he didn’t, much to his
surprise.

“If she ends up setting off the magic in your pendant,
she’ll be just as welcomed into our family group as Aspen and Harley have
been.”

Everyone in the room appeared to be as shocked as Jase was
by that statement. At one time, his Uncle Nate was very vocal in the fact he
thought humans were beneath cougar shifters. He really hadn’t been all that thrilled
when Taylor had become mated to Aspen.

Nate looked at each of them before his gaze settled on
Harley. “I no longer think the way I did in the past. If it wasn’t for Harley,
I could very well be dead right now. I owe her my life.” He then looked at
Jase. “I’ll stand by any male who has a human female as his mate. Taylor is
right, it’s time to make changes to the laws and mores we follow.”

Jase turned his gaze on Taylor to find his cousin staring at
his father with his mouth hanging open, a look of incredulity on his face.
Never in a million years had any of them expected Nate to say it was time for
such a major change in their family group. It was thought they wouldn’t come to
be until Nate had passed away or stepped down as group leader and Taylor had
taken his place.

Aspen chuckled as she put a finger under her mate’s chin and
pushed his mouth closed. “You’ll be catching flies soon if you’re not careful.”

Taylor shook his head. “I can’t believe it. I didn’t think…”
He shook his head again.

His uncle smiled at his oldest son. “I know you didn’t. From
what Caleb did to me, and the fact both my sons have forged their own paths in
life, I’ve been able to see the error of my ways. We have to move with the
times or be left behind.”

Mara, who sat next to Nate, turned his head toward her and
laid one hell of a kiss on him. Both in their sixties, they were far from old
by cougar shifter standards, which allowed a lifespan of around two hundred. So
this display of affection wasn’t out of place for people their age. When Nate
had been so sick, Mara wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic with her kiss, but
now that he was recovering, it seemed that was no longer the case.

Nate pulled away first, then surged to his feet. He reached
down and took his mate’s hand before he pulled her to stand next to him. With
his gaze still on Mara, he said, “I have to discuss something with Mara
upstairs. Right now.”

His uncle hurried out of the living room, taking Jase’s aunt
with him. The sound of Mara giggling reached his ears once they disappeared
from sight. It wasn’t too long before a door on the upper level closed.

Jase burst out laughing. “I guess someone is definitely
feeling better.”

Blaise groaned. “I’m not sure if I’m going to like this new
Dad. Having to see displays of affection like that, which end up with them
going upstairs to have sex, might scar me for life.”

“Poor baby,” Harley said with a laugh. “Isn’t that a bit of
the pot calling the kettle black? Since I moved in here with you a couple days
ago, I think we’ve done the same thing more than once.”

“Try four times,” Taylor said.

“You were counting?” Aspen asked, a smile playing on her
lips.

“No, not really. It’s kind of hard to ignore when it happens
right in front of me, though.”

Jase interrupted before that topic could go any further. “I
guess I’m going to go see what Grady is up to. At least I don’t have to worry
about my brother being distracted by a mate since he doesn’t have one.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said and stood when Jase did.

At the front door, his cousin asked, “So what did you think
of Draven?”

“You told me he was a computer geek, but you neglected to
tell me he sure as hell doesn’t look like one. The guy is the biggest cougar
shifter I’ve ever seen.”

Blaise laughed. “I know he doesn’t look the part, but he’s a
whiz when it comes to anything to do with computers. He might come across as
intimidating, but once you get to know him, he’s a great guy. I’d trust him
with anything.”

“He said you mentioned to him that Grady and I like to go
out to human bars to look at the women. Draven wants to go out with us
sometime.”

“It might only be Grady now that you’ve met Katarina,”
Blaise said with a grin.

Jase shook his head. “I only have a date with her. And you
have no idea how hard it was to get her to agree to even that.”

“Wow, that’s a first. I don’t think there’s been a woman you
haven’t been able to charm enough to get her to agree to sleep with you. Did it
hurt your ego?” His cousin laughed.

“Har, har. Laugh it up. No, it didn’t hurt my ego. I was
more afraid she’d use the baseball bat she threatened to take to my head.”

That just made Blaise laugh even harder. Once he got himself
under some control, he asked, “Why did she do that?”

Jase sighed. “It might have had to do with the fact she
thought I was trying to break into her apartment.”

That set Blaise off once more. “What did you do to make her
think that?”

“I didn’t know which apartment was Caleb’s at first, okay? I
was trying to pick up his scent trail. Forget it. I’m leaving. I’ll call if I
manage to corner Caleb somewhere.”

Blaise waved him off. Jase walked outside, then closed the
door on his cousin’s laughter. He was pretty sure he’d go through the same
thing with his brother Grady when Jase told him the same story.

* * * * *

Katarina sat in her car in the parking lot of the Alaska
Zoo. It was the first activity she’d planned for her and Jase’s date. She’d
changed it from starting in the evening to the middle of the afternoon. She
hadn’t known if he would have been okay with it, but he’d quickly reassured her
the time change wasn’t a problem.

She got out of her vehicle and locked it. Since Jase didn’t
know what she drove and she didn’t know what he did, Katarina figured it would
be better if she was more easily seen. Pushing closer to late fall, the days were
definitely cooling off. She zipped up her jacket, then shoved her hands into
the pockets.

The parking lot wasn’t overly full since it was later in the
day and the zoo closed at five. Katarina watched each car that turned off the
road and into it. At exactly three o’clock, the time she’d wanted Jase to meet
her, a flashy black sports car appeared at the entrance.

At first, she didn’t think it was Jase. For some reason
she’d assumed he would drive a car like hers—not new and definitely not
expensive. Katarina soon realized it was indeed him when the vehicle drove
toward where she stood and parked in the empty space next to her. There was no
mistaking him as the driver.

Jase got out, then walked around to where she waited. “Hi,
Katarina. I made it just in time.”

“Yeah, you did.”

Much to her dismay, Jase was even better-looking than she’d
remembered. She didn’t have high hopes that this date would end up going well.
The last really good-looking guy she’d dated had had a wandering eye that soon
led to his hands doing the same.

“Are you ready to go into the zoo?” Jase asked.

“Sure.”

As they walked side by side to the entrance, he asked, “I
was a bit surprised when you decided on coming here. I thought you would have
picked something else.”

She peered at him. “And what would that be? The regular
dinner and a movie or going out to a bar?”

“No. I had a feeling you were going to pick something
different. I was all prepared to do whatever you decided on, even if it
happened to be making me jump out of a plane to go skydiving. I would have
pissed my pants on the way down and would have had to excuse myself to change
once I hit the ground, but I would have done it.”

Katarina couldn’t hold back a smile as she thought of Jase
screaming like a girl as he jumped out of a plane. She chuckled. “Why would you
think I’d choose that? No one could pay me enough money to go skydiving.”

He smiled. “Well, you did come across as a tough woman
yesterday. I got the impression you might have a daredevil side too.”

“Nope, I don’t. I’d more than likely be pissing my pants
right along with you.”

Jase laughed, the sound of it causing Katarina to smile
bigger. At least he appeared to have a sense of humor, something she liked in a
guy. Once they reached the entrance to the zoo, he paid for their admissions.
With maps in hand, they started their tour.

As they headed for the first attraction, which was where the
river otters and harbor seals were, a group of kids came running toward them.
Given as how they were carrying party favor bags, Katarina guessed they’d been
part of a birthday party there.

The kids didn’t seem to slow down once they reached her and
Jase. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side
before he stepped out of the way. The small group ran past, laughing and
yelling at each other. Four adults chased after them, calling for them to slow
down.

The heat from Jase’s body soaked through Katarina’s jacket
and into her. Being this close to him, she easily smelled the aftershave he’d
used. It was spicy and all male. And pressed up against him, there was no
mistaking how hard his body was. Hers reacted to his nearness as her nipples
grew taut. She hated to admit how much she liked the fact she fit perfectly
under his arm, or how small he made her feel.

Jase got them walking again, but kept his hold on her. He
matched his strides to her shorter ones so she didn’t have to feel as if she
had to run to keep up. Katarina should have pulled away, but she liked having
him against her.

He looked at her. “Is there any animal in particular you
want to see?”

She nodded. “Actually, there are a couple. I like watching
the tigers and snow leopards. The big cats are my favorite.”

“I have to say I’m partial to them as well.”

“Is that why you have a cougar head pendant? I noticed it yesterday.”

Jase pulled it out of the front of his jacket. “I guess you
could say I feel more for the cougars than any other large cat.”

“Too bad they don’t have any here.”

“The tigers and snow leopards are just as nice.”

They walked in silence for a bit until they reached the
first set of animals. As they went from one attraction to the next, Katarina
found her gaze drawn to Jase’s pendant from time to time. The cougar’s ruby
eyes would flash in the sun when it hit it just right.

It took Katarina and Jase about twenty minutes to reach the
tigers. They had a large open grassed area to roam. At first, she couldn’t see
any, but one came running up to the edge of the enclosure, then snarled once he
reached the fence. It appeared as if he looked right at them.